title: Mindfulness-based stress reduction training is associated with greater empathy and reduced anxiety for graduate healthcare students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Graduate healthcare students experience significant stressors during professional training. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a behavioural intervention designed to teach self-regulatory skills for stress reduction and emotion management. This study examines the impact of MBSR training on students from five healthcare graduate programs in a quasi-experimental trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 13 students completed the MBSR program and were compared with 15 controls. Both groups answered validated questionnaires measuring anxiety, burnout and empathy at baseline, at conclusion of the course (week 8) and 3 weeks post-course completion (week 11).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant decrease in anxiety at weeks 8 and 11 compared with baseline (P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively) was observed using the Burns Anxiety Inventory. Significant increase in empathy at week 8 (P<0.0096) was observed using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. Week 11 demonstrated a decrease in empathy from baseline (not statistically significant) across all subjects. No significant differences in burnout scores at weeks 8 and 11 were observed between those in the intervention and control groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide supportive evidence of MBSR as a behavioural intervention to reduce anxiety and increase empathy among graduate healthcare students.
authors.affiliation: New York College of Podiatric Medicine, New York, New York, USA. pbarbosa@nycpm.edu
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Gaye
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zlotnick
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilk
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Toomey
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness / Q000379:methods; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult